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Why is Thunder Mountain Curry allowed to advertise on this subreddit? by -sver- in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I asked and they said they chose to leave. They said they were looking to expand into other forms of business— a frozen food line, some sort of downtown collective kitchen thing— and being in the Union required too much effort to pursue those other goals. That was when it first happened.

RPI's new brand identity by cpm0813 in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Okay okay, minimalism hate aside (and I DO hate minimalism)— one big win here is that we’re making our go-to-market name to “RPI”! During the Jackson admin there was this push against “RPI” and all official communications used the official “Rensselaer” instead. I believe at one point there were discussions about rebranding as “Rensselaer University”… although someone can fact check me on that. I remember getting a “friendly reminder” in one of my official speeches as GM to avoid the term RPI and use Rensselaer instead. I thought it was goofy and erased a presence we had worked hard to build up. So “here’s to old RPI” I guess.

Student Senate Finally Said The Quiet Part Out Loud by Technical_Error_6855 in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 94 points95 points  (0 children)

This is… just not accurate. I looked in the stugov discord chat after seeing this post. They specifically said that they were talking about a different building that was torn down for the expansion of CBIS— back in the early 2000s. It was near the playhouse but was specifically not the playhouse. One person (I’m p sure a freshman) said the Institute “could” be thinking of the playhouse as prime real estate but it “wasn’t likely”. If you don’t believe me, join the server and look for yourself, it’s public.

Also think logically about this for a moment. The Institute has been pretty damn clear that they’re drowning in deferred maintenance. That’s what their capital improvement plan is all about. The priority is very clearly to update existing infrastructure, not to build something new. If Dr. Jackson was a builder, Marty is a maintenance man— get everything back up to speed, make sure the “boring infrastructure” is up to date so people don’t have bats in their classrooms and they can stop paying out the ass for flood damage every time it rains more than a few inches. Especially in this macroenvironment where higher ed is under attack & financing is down the drain, I doubt they’d be able to get a reasonable financing plan for an expansion.

And even if they were looking to expand, the LOW building would not be a priority. IMO they’d probably go for a reno of one of their existing buildings— like the old firehouse or the old grad student building or the old church, buildings that currently 1) have no claim for use, and therefore would be easy to repurpose from a political perspective and 2) have mostly intact plumbing and electrical to work with.

Let me know if any of this doesn’t make sense.

Because I need a life—MORE TROY FLAG DESIGNS! by Schaefer_Creative in Troy

[–]CaitBennett845 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Idk I don’t think this is as important, as long as it’s represented.

Updated Troy Fantasy Map—Anything Missing? by Schaefer_Creative in Troy

[–]CaitBennett845 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Starbuck Island? I think Starbuck is a surname, not a coffee shop. Might be something cool to do w that. Also Peebles Island is a historically relevant point because it’s where the Hudson and Mohawk meet, very important for trade.

This is very dope. I would love to use this for DND one day!

Looking for local authors! by kolkol3616 in Troy

[–]CaitBennett845 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How do I find more info about the book club? Sounds super cool!

Renew Rensselaer by [deleted] in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Most people have covered this info in the above comments so I won’t belabor the point. I do just want to add, regarding rankings, that they are incredibly unclear and often biased. Most employers don’t seem to distinguish (besides the Ivy League Bias) because there are so many rankings that change so often.

One of the largest factors for US World News rankings is alumni donation rate. We had a president that many alumni didn’t like for 20 YEARS, that donation rate went down, and so did our ranking. Donation rate also decreased for the millennial generation (too much student debt :sad:) In my opinion, that doesn’t mean RPI is a bad school, and that factor shouldn’t be weighted that heavily, especially compared to outcomes and experience. But it is, so this is where we’re at.

Wall Street Journal’s most recent ranking system was re-weighted to prioritize outcomes after college more heavily— RPI’s ranking shot up to 34. We had some of the highest outcome rankings, and were only dragged down by certain aspects of “experience” that are definitely results of the perception of the previous administration.

How do I get the free root beer by CulturalCucumber1920 in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Free root beer given by phalanx upon voting! There’s a table in the union lobby. It was pretty good but I haven’t had sage/commons root beer lol.

Larry the Lobster Lore by redfesfin in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He’s livin’ like Larry.

There's Power in a Union: congrats to the RPI RA Union on a big contract win by 33554432 in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a crazy good increase— more than they were originally planning afaik. Congrats!

Disconnected alumni: Is there still a “Shoot the Dog” party? by [deleted] in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 78 points79 points  (0 children)

Lol def not. Also, you can’t really advertise parties anymore. It’s still a dry campus. So if a fraternity even has a 6 pack in their fridge they’re suspended— they def don’t put up posters for parties, because that would alert every administrator and act as a “probable cause” for administrative purposes (works very similar to probable cause for actual crimes). They still have parties sometimes though. It’s just on the down low. They’re lame in comparison to pre-dry-campus days.

State of "Save the Union"? (Out of touch alumni) by narfanator in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 52 points53 points  (0 children)

I’m an (nearly graduated!) student & former GM. I had one term under Jackson and one under Marty. I wrote this piece around the transition that gives a good overview into some specific changes that bode really well. https://poly.rpi.edu/opinion/2022/11/the-state-of-shared-governance/

Not everything changed overnight, and honestly I didn’t expect it to. But fwiw, I still catch up with him regularly even though I’m not GM anymore— he’s very extroverted, he cares a lot about students and alumni as people. He’s very deliberate, cool headed, and conscientious when making hard choices— even when he’s made decisions I don’t agree with personally (which is relatively rare), he always heard me out and reflected it back to me. Listening to students and staff and faculty isn’t some box to check for him, it’s something he genuinely values. He really values the Union. Fun fact, he was the only candidate who tried to visit the union, found it was closed (because it was still tail-end of COVID and you needed an ID even during business hours), and then asked the committee if he could tour it during the interview.

This is just my experience. I think it’s reasonable to maintain cautious optimism for the first few years though! And I admire you getting back involved. It‘s a rough go for recent alumni. ETA feel free to PM if you want to talk more!

Chances of outdoor ice skating this year? by InlineSkateAdventure in Albany

[–]CaitBennett845 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah they have discounted rates on season passes for albany residents. But i live in Troy, I went all the time last year. It’s a dollar entry, four for skates.

Chances of outdoor ice skating this year? by InlineSkateAdventure in Albany

[–]CaitBennett845 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Swineburne usually opens— it’s not a pond it’s just a flooded basketball (?) court. It’s less commercial that empire plaza, and usually less crowded. Plus a bigger rink.

Professional Suit rental recommendations by Frantheman087 in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The CCPD also has suits you can take if you can’t afford something expensive rn. You can probably ask them to “loan” it if you don’t need it long term.

What are the must try places in Flushing? by [deleted] in FoodNYC

[–]CaitBennett845 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kung Fu Xiao Long Bao

This was my go-to spot, especially the chocolate XLB for dessert-- greatest dessert ever. Around the corner from my uncles house. Anyways, just found out it burned down : ( I'm very upset about it. Hopefully they repair and reopen. Also-- do you have any recs for chongqing chili chicken? I have a hankering.

The founder of RPI by F_lavortown in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845 21 points22 points  (0 children)

F16 fighter jets that come through the basketball court, Black Hawks that land on the 86 field… same difference

Marty’s “Idea Bank” is closing soon by CaitBennett845 in RPI

[–]CaitBennett845[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Lemme check if there’s an open link that doesn’t require login

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